On April 19th, Taylor Swift made all Swifties members of the Tortured Poets Department with the release of her 11th studio album. The Tortured Poets Department was announced when Swift accepted a Grammy on February 4th, leaving all her fans shocked after believing Reputation (Taylor’s Version) was going to be the announcement. For the following two months, Swift and her team Taylor Nation posted videos and photos that revealed lyrics to the upcoming songs.
“Taylor makes the lyrics so powerful that the listeners feel exactly what she’s going through and can connect to her music,” said junior Aubree Gunn.
At midnight EST, the album was released to the public where fans across the world immediately streamed it. Swift continued her history of achieving milestones with the album becoming the first album to surpass 300 million streams in a single day on Spotify.
A new Taylor Swift album release wouldn’t be complete without a little chaos. Easter eggs hinting to the number two were confirmed when, at 2am EST, Swift announced that The Tortured Poets Department is a double album and therefore revealed The Tortured Poets Department; The Anthology. The second album consisted of 15 more songs, bringing the total number of songs to 31 and the total listening time to 2 hours and 3 minutes.
“I loved the double release…I love her music so I’m always here for more of it,” said sophomore Hope Kashansky.
Swift is known for her complex, deep lyrics and Swifties have taken it upon themselves to analyze the songs and relate them back to Swift’s life. This album is widely considered to be the “break-up” album for Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift’s six-year relationship that’s rumored to have ended around the time of The Eras Tour Tampa shows.
The Tortured Poets Department mostly contains mellow, slow songs to embrace the feelings of heartbreak, while also incorporating a few upbeat hits. One of the popular upbeat songs is “Florida” which has become the talk amongst Florida Swifties.
“I love the song Florida because of the beat and lyrics…I love how she mentioned Destin too,” said sophomore Lola Dupree.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” has also caught everyone by surprise with lyrics that showcase Swift’s suffering matched with a beat that fans could dance to.
While no songs were released prior to April 19th, Swift did announce that the first single from the album is “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” and that a music video featuring the music star was being released. The video has already received 33 million views with over 71 thousand comments.
What’s next for Swift is unexpected as for now, but streaming of the new album will keep Swifties busy while they wait for the next announcement.
